The ShootMania Storm Website is now accepting signups for beta testing of this upcoming online first-person shooter from TrackMania developer NADEO. They also offer a an announcement trailer with a look at the game made entirely with in game tools. The game looks surprisingly like TrackMania with guns, with an emphasis on straight-line running and signature NADEO gravity-defying gameplay. If all that's not enough, the ShootMania Facebook Page has some new screenshots (thanks Frans), and the game's Twitch TV Channel will be broadcasting a live ShootMania tournament starting June 1st, and the finals will be conducted live during E3.

And the one (of many) times I was called a cheater... There is no bigger compliment in an FPS : )

I was all about the shock boom... Love that shit : )

As for SM... I agree with earlier comments, and I'm unlikely to buy it, or even play for free, now that I'm older and slower : )

As for easy mode map making... It's a bad idea... Back when it took a lot of effort to make (and publish) a map, the choices for players were easy (and few)... Now that everyone can put together their own crappy map, and get it on the ever-increasing list, it just becomes too much work to find a map to play with... Brick Force is the same; there are hundreds of published maps that have 0 download/play count, because it's not worth the time for people to try out the new maps... Maybe the Planet sites need to come back and rate maps ; ) Then I can re-release CTF-HouseOfCards, with some environment (non square walls/tunnels) enhancements : )

What I ask myself is why I should care for this game seeing as it's essentially just UT. The game editor thing is a nice gimmick but it does not make the game any better or worse.

And 30$ for the game seems like pretty high and.. way too high for something like this. It looks and feels more like an arcade game (not in the deteriorative sense) you pick it up, play 4 rounds, and drop it again. Which would be fine... but if you have a real itch for this kind of gameplay.. There is always unreal tournament And the older ones still have great gameplay, and many many mods.

Jerykk wrote on May 24, 2012, 02:06:Also, they need to put this game on Steam. TrackMania 2 would have so many more players if it were on Steam.

Yes, the problem is Nadeo does great games, but in the business side they're a bit... lacking.

They used to put StarForce in the old Trackmanias, and insult those customers that complained about it. And then they went and sold themselves to Ubi. With that team, it's a miracle the games got done at all.

I guess it's not so bad if you have to stay on a platform to use the railgun. We'll see how it turns out.

That said, I do have to question their business model. Instead of charging $20-30 to buy the full game, it might make more sense to make it F2P, with a basic set of level-building blocks available. If you want more building blocks, you can buy them for a reasonable fee. This would ensure that the game has no barrier to entry (people are far more willing to try free games than $20-30 games) and you aren't paying money for any in-game advantage. Players who feel creative can try out the level editor with the basic set of building blocks and if they like it, they can buy more. Players who don't have any interest in building stuff can just play normally. This business model would be flexible and sustainable, as Nadeo could keep producing new building blocks for the community. And of course, there should be a full game purchase option for players who want to get all the initial building blocks right off the bat.

Charging $20-30 for a multiplayer-only, PC-exclusive, relatively obscure and low-budget shooter just doesn't seem wise in today's market. Just look at Red Orchestra 2. ShootMania will need to maintain a large player base because it's a multiplayer game and it relies heavily on user-generated content.

Also, they need to put this game on Steam. TrackMania 2 would have so many more players if it were on Steam.

This game looks pretty sweet! I like the shaders, post processing effects and stuff. But how come no falling&#65279; damage? And there's only one gun or gun type to use?

If you can actually jump as high and as far as the trailer suggests, then fall damage would be counter-productive. I'm really digging the mobility. Wall-jumps and wall-running could be cool too. As for weapons, there are two as far as I can tell. There's the relatively slow moving projectile and a railgun-type projectile. I'm guessing your gauntlet is your primary weapon, with multiple firing modes (probably drawing from a shared energy pool, with stronger projectiles using more energy).